Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne has welcomed the EU Commission's aim to introduce a ‘Digital Green Pass’, aimed at facilitating travel.
The pass will allow those vaccinated against COVID-19 and others to travel more freely within the European Union and elsewhere.
Minister Fearne described it as an “added tool to facilitate travel and empower European citizens,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to social media to say:
“The Digital Green Pass should facilitate European’s lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad – for work or tourism.”
The special pass could be announced in the coming weeks for those who have been vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19, or for those who obtain negative test results.
The move comes off the back of calls from Europe’s travel and tourism sectors for EU Governments to create a roadmap to allow the industry to restart in time for summer.
The European Tourism Manifesto Alliance, a group of more than 60 public and private travel and tourism organisations last week unveiled a series of joint recommendations for EU Member States on how to relaunch travel and tourism in Europe.
At the heart of the recommendations is the development of an EU roadmap for the safe restoration of travel once countries emerge from national lockdowns and its implementation in close cooperation with industry and social partners.
